Spike puller



May 23, 1933- c. E. DOTY ET AL SPIKE FULLER Filed May 26, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Z M Ala- L5 a "v M 7 z;- A'II'TORNEY May 23, 1933. c. E. boTY El AL SPIKE FULLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @Filed May 26, 1931 INVENTOE MATTORNEY Patented May 23, 1933 UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES n. DO'lY, or voNKER-s, AND MICHAEL BIMoNTn'or NEW YORK, N. Y.)

' SPIKE FULLER Application filed May 26,

This invention relates to spike pullers, and more particularly to devices of that type adapted to pull railroad spikes.

An object of the invention is to improve 5 the construction of spike pullers so as to facilitate the engagement of the spike-headengaging toe of the lever bar with the spike and to enable the spike to be withdrawn completely from the tie without the necessity of placing a block under the foot of the spike puller after the spike has been partially withdrawn in order to raise the foot high enough to complete the withdrawal of the spike.

Another object of the invention is to provide a spike puller in which the claw which holds the spike head in engagement with the lever bar toe is mounted so that it may be swung back and remain in such position out of the way, while the toe is moved into engagement with the head of the spike.

Two forms of construction are illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 isa vertical section through the lower part of the spike puller and adjacent parts of a rail and tie, with the puller in engagement with the head of a spike preparatory to withdrawing the latter;

Fig. 2 is a similar view to Fig. 1' showing the spike partially withdrawn; i

Fig. 3 is a similar view to Figs. 1 and 2 showing the spike fully withdrawn;

Fig. 4 is a plan view with the lever in the position shown in Fig. 1, but showing the claw in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1; 2

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing a modified form of spike puller; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 5.

The spike puller shown in Figs. 1 to l, inclusive, comprises a lever bar having three main parts, a. handle 10,.foot11 and toe .12. The toe is forked so that it may be extended under the head of the spike 18 on both sides,

as shown. To hold the toe in engagement with the head of the spike for heavy work, a claw 1a is provided having a downwardly curved end or toe 15 adapted to engage the 1931'. Serial No. 540,110.

opposite side of the spike head. This claw is mounted in a slot 16 in the foot 11 and is pivot-ally held therein by a pin17. The inner face of the toe 15 extends downwardly at substantially right angles to the line extending from the pivotal axis of the. claw to the end of the toe thereof. In other words, the angle a, a, a ofF'ig. 1 is preferably about a right angle. This angular relationship is desirable to permit the toe of the claw to be moved into engagement with the head of the spike and when it is in engagement with the spike head to retain it so.

. So constructed, the toe of the claw engages the side of the spike-head and not its under side. This construction has very important advantages. First, the claw may be brought into operation before the spike-head has been lifted away from the rail, as shown for examplein Fig. 1. Second, as the spike is .70 pulled'there is no tendency for the claw to turn the spike-head toward the lever bar and in sodoing'bend the shank of the spike.

' It will be noted that, by virtue of the angular relationship above mentioned, the innerfaceof'the claw-end from the tip thereof upwardly for a substantial distance does not depart widely from the are described by theback of thespike-head as the latter pivots about the toeof the lever bar. This constructionallows the back of the spike-head to slide down the; inner face of the claw-end as the angle between the shank of the spike andthe foot of the lever bar becomes smaller and smaller. lfinstead of, or simultaneouslyvo with, a sliding movement of the spike-head on theinner face of the clawend, theclaw turns about its pivot, the com bined movement of. the claw-end and the lever bar toe, relatively to each other and to the spike tends to turn the spike-head away from the lever bar and thus counteracts the normal tendency vof the spike puller to bend the spike towards itself.

XVhi-le the toe l2'is being slipped under the head of the spike it is convenient to have the claw out of the way. Further, if the spike is not too firmly embedded in the tie, it may be extracted by the toe 12without aid-from the claw. For these reasons, the

After the toe 12 has been slipped under the head of the spike, the clawv may be swung forward into the position shown in full" lines in Fig. 1.

The foot 11 is formed with a convexly curved bottom face to serve as a rolling fol cruni. This face is to advantage formed with two heel portions 118 and 19 of smaller radius of curvature thanthe portions be;- tween thetip of thetoe 12' and the heel 18 and between the heels 18 and19". The first heel 18 serves as a rolling fulcrum during the initial loosening and withdrawal opera tions, as shown in'Figs. 1 and- 2. The second heel 19 serves as a fulcrum during the latter part of the withdrawal operations.

As the distance from the tip of the toe 12 to the heel 18 is short, good leverage is obtained for loosening the spike. The; portion of the under face of the toe 12 andfoot 1-1 forward of the heel 18' is approximately at right angles to the handle 10, so as to bring the latter into vertical or nearly vertical position when the toe 12 is slipped under the head of the spike. The under face of the foot between the heels 18- and 19 has a general direction of about 45 with respect to the handle so that, when the foot is properly proportioned to the length of the spike, the latter may be completely withdrawn before the handle in its downward movement touches the ground or the opposite rail.

The distance from the second heel 19 to the tip of the lever bar toe is considerably greater than the length of a standard railroad spike so that when the latter is com pletely withdrawn, as shown in Fig. 3-, the angle between thehorizontal and the line joining the tip of the toe 12 and'the fulcrum point 19 is around 45. If this angle were much greater than 45, the last part of the withdrawal operation would require an ei= cessive movement of-the handle, due to' the fact that with higher angles a given angular movement of thehandle would produce only a relatively small vertical movement of the tip of the toe 12. If this angle were much less than {15", the heel 19 would be so far from the spike that the leverage would be small. When the angle is about 45, the distance between the tip of the toe and the heel 19 is best about one and one-half times the length of the spike. ,The foot 11 is wider and deeper than the handle 12 to give the requisite strength at the point where the strain is greatest and ofi'set the weakening effect of the slot 16.

The form of construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is the same as that shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, except for the form of the toe of the lever bar and the length of the slot for the claw. In Figs. 1 to 4, the toe 12 is forked. In Figs. 5 and 6, the toe 12a has a straight chisel-edge tip.-

It -will be understood that numerous changes may be made in the constructions illustrated without departing from the principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

I. A spike puller, comprising a lever bar having afoot-end extending at an angle to the handle, formed with a convexly curved bottom face to serve as a rolling fulcrum and terminating in a spike head-engaging toe, and a pivoted claw member mounted on the foot-end and free tov swing sufficiently 'far to the rear'to bring its center of gravity to the rearward side of a line drawn vertically upwards from the axis about which such member turns when the underside of the lever bar toe is horizontal, said claw member extending forwardly and curved downwardly and ending in a spike-head-engaging toe.

2. A spike puller, comprising a lever bar having a foot-end extending at an angle to the bar formed with a convexly curved bottom face adapted to serve as a rolling fulcrum and terminating in a spike-head-engaging, tee, a claw member pivotally mounted in. a slot in the foot-end,- the slot extending sufliciently far to the rear to allow the claw member to be moved into such position thatits center ofgravity is on the rearward side of a line drawn vertically from the axis about which such member turns when the underside of the lever bar toe is horizontal, said claw member extending forwardly and curved downwardly and ending in a spike head engaging'toe the innerface of which extends downwardly atabout a right angle to a line extending from thepivotal axis of such member to the end of the toe thereof.

3. A spike puller,- comprising a lever bar having afoot-end extending at an angle to the handle formed with a convexly curved bottom face to serve as a rolling fulcrum and terminating in a spike-head-engaging toe, the fulcrum facehaving two heel portions with curvatures of shorter radius than the parts of the face between the toe and the first heel portion and between the first and second heel portions, the distance between the tip of the toe and the first heel portion being approximately half the length of a standardrailroad spike and the distance between the tip of the toe andthe second heel the two heels has a general direction of 45 to the handle.

5. A spike puller, comprising a lever bar having a foot-end extending at an angle to the bar formed with a convexly curved bottom face to serve as a rolling fulcrum and terminating in a spike-head-engaging toe, the fulcrum face having but slightcurvature for a substantial distance from the toe l0 and then having a curvature of short radius and extending from such part of short radius to a heel point at a distance from the toe substantially greater than the lengh of the spike to be pulled, and a pivoted claw member pivoted to the lever foot about mid way of the length of the foot and near its fulcrum edge and extending forwardly and curved downwardly and ending in a spikehead-engaging toe therinner face of which 2 extends downwardly at substantially right angles to a radius from the pivotal axis of such member to the end of the toe thereof. In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands. CHARLES E. DOTY.

MICHAEL BIMONTE. 

